If We Had Never Met
by Daricio
Summary: What would happen if Dartz and the Orichalcos didn't exist? How would it affect the lives of three bikers who had been manipulated by the evil stones? This is the story of their lives, as it would have been... Rated for esplosions in Alister's part. R&R!
1. Beginnings

Ok, this is an idea that I came up with while talking to LuckyLadyBug66 and many of the ideas in the story are ones that she helped me come up with.

This is an alternate universe fic... Where the Doom organization never existed, so all the bad stuff never happened to the three musketeers.

... Um, not a whole lot to say about it, so I'll just start writing it now...

(Poinky Dead Divider)

"Wow, Guardian Eatos! Thanks so much, you guys!" Raphael grinned at his little brother, Julian, who was bouncing up and down with glee that his older brother had liked the present so much.

"We had to look in 12 different stores before we finally found it, Raphael." Sonia told him matter-of-factly, also looking pleased. She and Julian latched onto his arm, as they usually did.

Raphael put down his new card so that he could hug them back, aware that his parents were watching the exchange with slight amusement and approval.

Suddenly, the cruise ship they were on began to rock hard, or at least harder than it was just a bit ago, making the three siblings lose their balance and fall over. Soon, the rocking returned to normal.

"What was that?" Raphael's mother wondered, righting her now empty glass and using a nearby napkin to mop up the mess. His father quickly helped her with that duty, along with a few of the servants on board.

"Let's go see if we can find somebody who knows what's happening?" Julian asked adventurously.

"Can we, mother?" Sonia asked anxiously.

She looked up at her children, who were all giving her pleading looks. They all enjoyed exploring the ship, and used every reason they could to do so.

"Oh... I suppose. Only... what about dinner?"

One of the servants smiled at her. "There will probably be a crewmember on deck, and by the time they get back, we'll have all this cleaned up."

"Yay!" Quickly, they all made their way up to the deck to see what was going on. Raphael made sure that he put the new Guardian cards into his fancy coat pocket before doing so.

"What's going on?" He asked a passing crewmember on the deck.

The man shook his head. "Nothing to be worried about. Big storm in the sea, but it's further west than we are. We won't get caught up in any more of it than these big waves." Raphael thanked him, and the man went on his way.

After staying up top for a while, Julian began to complain that he was getting wet, so they all went back down the steps to the main dining hall of the ship.

Raphael gave the ocean one last glance before going below deck. He had the oddest feeling that he had just missed something...

He shrugged the feeling off and continued to walk.

And for some reason, when his siblings reattached themselves him with their fierce hugs, he didn't mind as much as he usually did... After all, they were his family. He was going to be with them for a long time yet.

(Poinky Dead Divider)

"Valon! What do you think you're doing?"

The young Valon froze mid-swing and turned to face the woman coming towards him. Normally, when one looked upon Mother Mary, one would think that she was the sweetest person they had ever seen.

Right now, the look of stern disappointment was enough to make Valon wish that he could just sink into the ground and never be seen again.

"Th-they were sayin' bad things about me, and about the other kids who hafta live at the church!" Valon explained defiantly, getting to his feet.

Mother Mary looked around at the boys who were all now, except for Valon, lying on the ground in various states of pain. Valon was looking rather worse for wear himself, but he didn't seem to notice. The tears threatening to pour out of his eyes were ones of anger, not of fear or hurt.

She sighed and beckoned him to go back inside. He slowly walked past her and into the building, glancing back at her a few times before actually going inside. She watched him go, then turned back to the other boys who were trying to scramble back to their feet.

"You boys shouldn't be causing any more trouble around here, you hear me? And not just because Valon won't stand for it." She said firmly. "Now, go back home."

Without stopping to make sure they were following her instructions, she turned around and headed back inside. Valon, who had been watching what she was doing from a crack in the door, quickly stepped backwards and tried to look like he hadn't been listening in.

Mother Mary gave him a look, and he began scuttling off to the sleeping room in the back of the church. "Uh, uh, uh." She caught him by the back of his collar and directed him into a bathroom.

"But, Mary, I'm fine!" he complained as she sat him down and began to clean his cuts. "They hardly got a scratch on me. See? I'm- ow..." he winced as she cleaned a particularly nasty cut.

She nodded. "That's right. You're ow. Now let's finish getting you cleaned up without complaining, all right?"

Valon frowned. "Yes, ma'am."

She sighed, gently taking ahold of his chin and looking him in the eyes. "Why must you fight so much, Valon? It doesn't help anything."

"I bet those punks won't come around here for a while." Valon commented rebelliously with a small smirk.

"But is that really the way God would have you solve your problems?"

"You mean, is that the way you want me to solve them? Probably not, but then, I've always had my own way of dealing with things." Valon said.

She frowned at him and shook her head. "Someday, you're going to have to learn that violence solves nothing. Love and kindness is what gets you through life happily."

Valon snorted and looked away. "The only one who's ever been kind to me is you..."

She smiled at him. "And of all the people in your life, who will you remember the most? You make a better impression on people by being nice to them. Will you promise me that you'll try to be a good person, Valon?"

He glanced up at her. "Aren't I a good person already?"

She smiled again. "Of course you are. But we can all improve, can't we? Will you try?"

Valon thought about this for a moment. "All right." He said slowly. He looked into her peaceful eyes and grinned. "Yeah, I'll try. I'll be better. You'll see!"

She nodded with approval. "Good."

A knock came at the church's main door and she quickly got up to go open it. Valon followed after her more slowly and watched as the doors opened before Mother Mary could even get halfway through the main room to the door. Four tough looking men entered loudly, not seeming to care that they were entering a sacred church.

"May I help you?" Mother Mary asked politely.

The man at the front of the group laughed. "Yeah, lady. You can get out of our way. Our boss just bought this place, and he's gunna be making a few changes around here."

"No!" Valon ran forward and put himself between the thugs and his guardian. "You can't make us leave!" He put his fists up. Mother Mary put her hand on his shoulder and shook her head. He glanced back at her angrily, but when he saw her expression, he lowered his fists.

Stupid promise.

"Sir, I don't think you understand. There are children here who need taking care of... You can't just expect all of them to be forced back out onto the streets, surely?"

The man in front of the group gave Valon a look. "Naw, of course not. Our boss caught wind of all the children living here and he decided that this church was too small for that sort of thing. So he bought the place, and now he's going to give it a few renovations. A bigger kitchen, a bigger and better sleeping area. That sort of stuff."

Mother Mary's eyes lit up. "Oh, that sounds wonderful. When is all of this going to take place?"

"Next Tuesday." The man began giving her more information. While he was doing so, Valon caught Mother Mary's eye as she gave him a look that said "I told you so."

He looked away, then went to go tell the other kids the news. As he went, though, he had the strangest feeling that what had just transpired wasn't what was supposed to have happened. An image flashed into his mind of a great burning fire and a fistfight soon after. Then, a flash of green light...

He shook the image away. He was just being silly...

(Poinky Dead Divider)

"Your move, Alister."

"I know, I know." Alister frowned down at their makeshift chess board. "I'm thinking..." Slowly, his hand moved down and he fingered a used ammo cartridge that had been cut in half for a second before moving it forward. "Check."

Juan, the boy Alister was playing against, frowned. "I hate it when I get checked by pawns." He said good-naturedly. He moved a full-sized cartridge, his king, out of the way.

Miruko clapped as Alister moved another piece. "Check again."

"Oh, no you don't. I see you going for a second queen... Your move."

"Check again." Alister said with a grin.

"Checkmate, Alister! I win!"

"What!"

"See, look!"

"Oh, man!" Alister groaned, then grinned. "Rematch!"

"Rematch, play again!" Miruko chanted, standing up and standing behind Alister. "Alister gunna beat you this time, right Oniichan?"

Alister grinned at his little brother. "You betcha, Miruko."

The ground began to rumble slightly. "Uh oh... tanks."

The sounds were close—much closer than they had been in weeks previous. There was no time to run to the hideout, only barely enough time to hide. "Quick, into that broken tank!"

The three climbed up the tank as fast as they could and dove inside, slamming the lid closed and holding their breaths, waiting for the wave of tanks and fighting to pass them. Alister held Miruko close.

When the rumbling and explosions faded, Juan slowly lifted the lid and looked around. The street was once again abandoned. Their makeshift chess game had been smashed.

"I'm going to go out and make sure the way back to the shelter is safe." He whispered down to the two brothers.

"Not without me, you're not. It's too dangerous." Alister spoke up.

"Oniichan, what about me?"

"Stay here where it's safe, Miruko. I'll be right back. Don't leave the tank, ok?" Miruko nodded, sniffling slightly but trying to look brave.

Juan and Alister crept down the side of the tank and made their way to the shelter. The fighting had passed right by, but the warehouse looked in tact. Quickly, the two headed back to Miruko.

As they walked, Alister suddenly had a strange feeling... He looked up at the sky, searching it for something. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason, he felt that something was missing... Helicopters?

An image flashed in his mind of returning to the tank where Miruko was hidden just in time to see a group of helicopters descending and dropping bombs down right on the tank, blowing it to pieces.

Alister began to run, trying to shake the vision from his mind. "Miruko!" He called out as they reached the tank. The top opened and Miruko peered out, wondering what was wrong.

"You ok?" He wanted to know.

Alister frowned. "Yeah, we're fine. Come on, quickly. The way is clear for now."

They all headed for the shelter as fast as they could. Once they got inside, Alister's mother quickly shut and bolted the door, then ran a quick head-check. Everyone--meaning Alister, Miruko, Juan, and the two other boys they stayed with--were all there.

Candles were lit as explosions were heard once again overhead. Alister was scared of the bombs, and he knew that everybody else was as well, but he kept his expression hopeful. He was the oldest of all the kids here, and he had to stay strong for them.

And for his mother as well. He was old enough to tell that her limits were being pushed, and he had to do his best to keep her spirits up, especially after an explosion destroyed their house a few months ago, killing Alister's father and forcing the remaining three family members to survive in the basement of an old warehouse.

The six waited in silence, listening to the warfare above and praying that their hiding place would not be discovered. Or worse, bombed.

Suddenly, Miruko began to cry. His mother pulled him close, trying to comfort him. "It's all right." She said softly. "Everything's going to be ok..."

"Is it?" Alister murmured to himself, not meaning for anybody else to hear.

"Of course it is, Alister." Miruko chirped with a soft hiccup. "Mama said so."

Alister smiled at him, then caught sight of the newspaper on the table. It was rare nowadays to get ahold of one of those, and the last one they had found had been weeks old. Alister hadn't seen this one yet.

"What's the paper say, mom?" he asked. She shifted in her seat so that she could pick up the newspaper without letting go of Miruko.

"Well, you all know what KaibaCorp is, right? That big weapons company?" She asked.

They all nodded. So far, Kaiba Corporation had been refusing to sell weapons directly to either side in the war, but with smuggling operations and out of the way deals, both sides had been gaining access to many of the weapons anyway.

About a month ago, there had been a big corporate takeover, and Gozoburo Kaiba, CEO of KaibaCorp, had been replaced by a much younger CEO, his stepson, Seto Kaiba. Nobody knew whether or not Seto would decide to change his stepfather's views on the war or not...

"Well, it's no longer a weapons company. Seto Kaiba hates war. He completely stopped production of all weapons and supplies being made by KaibaCorp and had all of the main weapons factories destroyed. He even destroyed the company's main headquarters on that Island off of Japan! Kaiba Corporation is now a gaming company..." She said with a smile.

"So... No more advanced KaibaCorp weapons?" Juan asked with wide eyes.

"No helicopters?" Alister wondered.

"That's right. That completely turns this war around. There are other weapons companies, of course, but both sides will be running out a lot faster. The war is going to end soon, I just know it." Her eyes were sparkling.

"An' we can be normal again." Miruko said, his eyes drooping as the explosions above began to fade.

"Yeah... yeah, we can." Alister said with a smile.

(Poinky Dead Divider)

Okies, that's the end of the first chapter. The rest of the story is going to take place when the biker crew is the ages they are during the normal show... These were the turning points in their lives... Now it's time to see what happens when that's changed. (grins)

See you then!

--Daricio


	2. Invitations

Viel danke fur alle deine—

Malik: u.u English, Daricio.

Daricio: u.u Don't wanna.

Malik: -.-''

Daricio: Anyway, as I was saying. Many thanks for all of your reviews last chapter. They are greatly appreciated. ... They make me feel all warm and happy inside, especially with some of the crud that's been going on in my life right now...

Malik: AKA, those who read and leave no review behind make her sad, mopey, and boring. And trust me, she's no fun at all to hang around when she's boring.

Daricio: (sweatdrop) I'm not that bad...

Malik: u.u wanna bet?

Daricio: (sweatdrop again) ...And one little disclaimer here, Raphael's cousin, Hilda, belongs to LuckyLadybug66. Also, thanks so much for proofreading. You're a great help! (waves to Daisy-san)

... (Thinks a moment, then waves to B/k and Lisa as well)

(Poinky Dead Divider)

"Raphael! Raphael, where are you?"

"Uh oh..." Raphael, who was currently down the hill away from his parents' manor at his friend's garage and helping to beef up the old car, could hear his sister's call even from that distance, and she didn't sound pleased.

"What do you think it is this time?" his friend Buster asked with amusement, using a rag to wipe at his hands. "Some party that your cousin Hilda invited you to that you 'accidentally' missed, or maybe you're late for your piano lesson?"

"Or maybe she wants me to push her on the swing?" Raphael suggested jokingly, though he knew his 18 year old sister was able to do more than just swing.

Buster gave Raphael a look. "Course, she'll be yelling even more when she sees your clothes."

Raphael looked down at himself and frowned. His button-up 'casual' shirt and jeans were streaked with grease. "Hey, at least my coat survived." He commented, glancing at the chair where he had hung the white coat up. It had fallen off and was now lying rather piteously on the floor beside it. "Sort of..."

He hadn't been planning on coming down here, but when Sonia and Julien had managed to get into yet another fight, which ended up upsetting their mother who demanded that everybody go outside, he went for his favorite refuge.

Then when he found Buster working on the hot rod, he told himself that he wasn't going to help... and then Buster had said something along the lines of, "Hey, I know you don't want to mess up your shirt, but can you just hold this here for me while I get this on?"

Push came to shove, and now Raphael was looking like this. It was moments like these when he wished that he could just wear his baggy t-shirts all the time like normal kids...

He looked up sheepishly at Buster, who grinned back at him. "I'd better go and see what my crazy sister wants."

"All right. I'll see ya, Raph'." Buster gave him a thumbs-up. "Hope her supposed fashion police don't drag you away for too long, the hot rod's not done yet!"

Raphael grinned at him, grabbed his coat, and ran out the door, heading up the hill.

"There you are! Where have you been? Mother said outside, she didn't say we could roam the universe! And—Raphael! What did you do to your jacket?" Sonia looked horrified. "I swear, the things you get into, niichan... You know that if Hilda saw you like that—"(1)

"She would disown me seven times over, and you would be in full support of her all the way." Raphael recited. Sonia gave him a small smile, then shook her head.

"Oniichan... If you like cars so much, then buy one. You don't need to go through so much work all the time..."

"I like working with my hands." Raphael insisted. "Besides, what else is there to do out here?"

Sonia rolled her eyes and gestured to the large pool in their backyard complete with tennis courts, cement basketball courts, and ping pong and air hockey tables.

"I mean besides that."

Sonia thwacked him in the arm. "Anything you want is right there before you, niichan. All you need to do is whip out the credit card. Any place in town will recognize you by face and want your autograph after they give you everything you could possibly want. It's part of being a part of our family. We're rich, face it."

"But it's not _things_ that I need... I want to be able to do things for myself for once, and I want more friends like Buster who actually like me for me instead of just for how much money I have." Raphael shook his head. "Never mind, you wouldn't understand."

Sonia latched onto his arm and gave him a grin. "Maybe not. But even if you don't want to buy anything for yourself, you can still give me a ride to the store so that I can buy things instead."

Raphael looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "And you can't just drive yourself?"

The expression on Sonia's face changed to one of annoyance and disappointment. "Mom stole my car keys when she threw us outside."

Raphael laughed and turned toward the garage of the manor. "All right, All right... Maybe I can get these clothes washed or something while we're out."

"Washed? Replacing them would be better!" Sonia giggled. Raphael opened the main door to the garage and wheeled out his motorcycle. Sonia's laughter stopped when she saw it. "Oh, no you don't. That'll put so many tangles in my hair it won't even be funny, Oniichan!"

"Hey, you're the one who wants the ride." Raphael said with a grin. "I'm not the one who got into yet another fight with Julien and lost rights to the car keys."

Sonia put on a hurt expression, then shook her head and took the offered helmet. Raphael knew that she loved the motorcycle rides that he took her on; she just pretended not to in order to preserve her friendship with their cousin Hilda.

"All right, let's go."

"Raphael! You got a package in the mail!" Raphael sighed and gave his sister an apologetic look.

"Sorry. Here." He tossed her the keys and strode off towards the house where his mother was waiting with the package in her hands.

Sonia blinked, then put the motorcycle away instead of taking it out, following after her older brother to see what he had gotten.

"Who's it from?" Raphael asked, taking the package.

"Industrial Illusions." His mother answered. She gave him a smile. "I hope you weren't spending too much on those Duel Monster cards again."

Raphael shook his head. "I haven't bought cards from them for a few years, mother... I don't know what this is."

"Open it and you'll know." Sonia said impatiently, standing on tiptoe to look over his shoulder at the packaging.

Raphael did so and gave the odd-looking glove inside a strange look. "What's all this?"

Sonia reached in and pulled out some small metal stars and a letter. Looking over it, she grinned up at her brother. "There's a dueling competition going on at Industrial Illusions. The duelists will stay on an island and duel for star chips—these things—in order to gain entrance to the main castle for the final duels. Sounds interesting. You gunna do it, Oniichan?"

He took the letter from her and read it over. Then he looked up to see what his mother's reaction to the news was.

"It sounds like it will be fun, and perhaps it will give you the chance you need to get away for a while." She said with a smile. "You can if you want to."

Raphael looked back down at the box and slowly pulled the glove on. "Ok. Let's do this."

(Poinky Dead Divider)

"You're Valon, right?"

Valon nodded at the two people who had just entered the back area of the church. He quickly finished up tying a little girl's shoe for her, told her kindly to run along, then stood.

"Yeah, I'm Valon. Why?"

"We work for the government, and we have recently become aware that the caretaker of this place, Mother Mary, has been housing you illegally."

"Illegally? What are you talking about?" Valon frowned at them.

"Well, you're 18, right?"

"I dunno. I suppose it's been that long..."

"Foster cares, adoption agencies, and other places that take care of homeless children are only allowed to take in children. As soon as you turned 18, you were no longer a child, and now you can no longer stay here."(2)

"Can't stay?" Valon was shocked. "This is my home. I was under the impression that it was the guardian's decision who stays and who goes."

"As it is, Valon, you have no legal guardian. Mother Mary has been taking care of you, yes, but she is unable to have custody of you because of her position in the church. She has no more claim over you than she does any other person who comes in here for shelter."

Valon felt anger swell up in him, but he pushed it down. Getting angry about this wasn't going to solve anything. If there was anything he had learned from years of staying with Mother Mary, it was that losing his temper never seemed to help anybody. Slowly, he took a deep breath. "So what is to become of me, then?"

"For now, nothing. Just know that you have been warned. If you continue to stay here, we can hold Mother Mary responsible for keeping you without having guardianship over you. I suggest you talk to her about it."

The two of them turned and left without another word. Valon waited until he knew they were out of earshot before turning and punching a nearby pillow with frustration. "And here I was having a good day, too."

"I don't want you to go, Valon." A small voice said. Valon looked down at the small boy next to him, who was standing with a small group of the other kids who were staying there. Bryan was the boy who had spoken up. "None of us do. You're cool!"

Valon smiled at him, masking his own upset feelings. "Hey, it'll be ok. I'll just find a place to stay close by, and then I can visit you." He paused and looked around. "Where's Mother Mary?"

"Out doin' some shopping, I think." A small girl named Lucy told him, scratching the back of her head.

"Thanks." He went out a side door, which led out into an alleyway beside the church. There, his motorcycle was parked. Climbing on, he jammed his helmet on over his spiky brunette hair and headed towards town.

"Mother Mary!" He called when he saw her walking down the street back towards the church, a bag of groceries in her arms. He came to a stop beside her, got off his cycle and took the groceries from her, placing them securely on the motorcycle. Then he looked down at her. "Mother Mary, I..."

She gave him a kind, sad smile. "They came and told me about it yesterday while you were out. I'm sorry, Valon."

He frowned, then threw his arms around her, trying not to show how close he was to tears. "I don't want to have to go, Mother..."

She hugged him back. "You'll do just fine." She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. "I know you will. In fact, a friend of mine works at the apartment complex on the other side of town. She said that there's extra room there. And with your job down at that pizza place, you'll be making enough money to support yourself." (3)

"I thought we wanted that money to be able to make more renovations to the church..." Valon said with a frown.

"Trust me, you'll need it more than we will." She gave his arm one last squeeze. "Now, you run those groceries back to the church, and I'll go tell my friend that you'll be coming."

He grinned at her and got back on his motorcycle. "See you later, then."

As he went by the mailbox, he noticed that there was a package stuffed into it. He stopped and removed all the mail, including the slightly squashed box. Checking it, he was surprised to see that the package was for him...

He never usually got mail...

Valon parked the motorcycle in its usual spot and carried the groceries and the mail into the house. The children noticed the mail and gathered around to watch as Valon opened his package.

Inside the box was an odd looking glove, some small star shaped metal objects, and a letter...

_Dear Valon,_

_I have heard of your great dueling skills and I would like to cordially invite you to a competition being held by my company, Industrial Illusions..._

Valon skimmed down the letter, reading over the rules and regulations before coming to a halt at the curly, neat signature of _Maximillion Pegasus. _

"Whoa, I wish I could get a letter from Pegasus himself." Charles, another one of the boys said, looking up at Valon with envy. "But I didn't know you dueled..."

Valon was staring at the letter. "I didn't know I dueled either. I've got a deck, same as everyone else, and I guess I'm ok at it, but I've never dueled anybody outside this church or anything..."

"You should go, Valon!" Lucy said, grinning up at him. "It'd be fun!"

Valon shook his head. "I can't. I have to help Mother Mary move me into my new apartment..."

They all frowned for a minute, then a boy named Billy jumped up. "We can do it for you! Then when you get back, it'll all be set up and ready for you!"

"And my job?" Valon asked with amusement.

"Aw, they can get somebody else to deliver their stinky old pizzas while you're gone." Billy said.

"Gone where?" Mother Mary had just come in the door. The other kids scrambled to be the first to be able to tell her the news of the competition.

When she had gotten them all settled down and heard the story, she smiled at Valon. "Why, that sounds like a great idea." She said. "We'll get your place ready for you."

Valon was speechless. "But Mother Mary, I need to stay to help you--" he said, trying and once again failing to understand why she was always willing to give up so much for him. He didn't understand it, but he was grateful for it anyway.

"Valon." Her eyes were filled with tears. "You are as close as I've ever had to having a son, and I've loved you as if you were my son. I've always wanted to be able to do what's best for you, and sometimes I haven't been able to do that."

Valon started to argue, but she interrupted him. "But this is a chance for you to go out, make some friends, and do the things you like to do. I just want you to know that I am proud of you, and I'll always be here for you."

He looked down, feeling so grateful to her that he was starting to cry. Not that he was actually going to cry, especially not in front of all these kids...

He gave Mother Mary a hug instead, and the other kids joined in giving Valon hugs, and soon it was just a hug-fest all around.

... Then a wrestling-fest among the children... Then a rough-housing fest...

And then Mother Mary, laughing at the antics of the children in her care, told them all to go to bed—bumps, bruises and all.

(Poinky Dead Divider)

"Alister?" a faint voice called into the darkness. "Alister?"

A 15 year old boy stirred and slowly rolled over. "Hey, 'melda..." he muttered, calling his brother by his middle name, "Mom wants you."

Alister blinked himself awake and rolled off the top bunk of the bed blearily, the loose t-shirt he had slept in the night before un-bunching itself from where it had crawled upward during the night, and coming to rest just high enough to still show the teen's lower waist. Alister yawned and headed into his mother's bedroom. "Yeah, mom?"

His mother was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring dreamily off into the early morning sunrise. "Isn't it beautiful?" she said with a smile, turning to look at him.

Alister looked past her at it, then nodded, running the fingers of one hand through his red hair, which had been kept trimmed in a short, flipped style. "Sure is, mom. What time is it?"

"6:30... I was just up so that I could take my medication, and I thought you'd like to see the sunrise." She beamed at it again. "Miruko would probably whine if I tried to make him get up this early."

Alister's face had darkened at the mention of his mother's medicine. The family had moved out of the war zone when he was 12, but a year ago Mrs. Mackenzie had caught a serious illness, causing the family to move once again to a smaller home on the Atlantic coastline in England. (4)

The medicine that his mother now required to survive as long as she had already was very expensive, and they were quickly running out of money, already mortgaging the small house just to pay for it.

And what was worse, if they didn't somehow come up with the money to pay for an operation soon, they'd lose her...

His mother didn't seem to notice his frown, instead continuing to gaze outside. "I'm glad we were able to come here." She said after a while. "It's such a peaceful place..."

Alister nodded, his mind filling in the blank: It's such a peaceful place to spend the last of your days...

There was silence for a short while before Mrs. Mackenzie turned to her son with a sigh. "Oh, I almost forgot. I package came for you in the mail yesterday. I saw that it was from Industrial Illusions, so I felt safe opening it for you...

"There's going to be a tournament at a place called Duelist Kingdom, it's going to be hosted by Industrial Illusions. You've been invited to participate." His mother beamed at him.

Alister shook his head. "No, mom. I must stay here and take care of you and Miruko..."

"Miruko is 15 years old, Alister... He can take care of himself and me if he really sets his mind to it."

"Yeah, if he sets his mind to it." Alister joked. Then he grew serious again. "But mom..."

"No buts, it'll be fun. It'll give Mikey to have a chance at some responsibility around here, and then there's a prize too!" his mother eyes continued to sparkle despite her son's protests.

"But what if... I mean, you..." Alister looked away.

Mrs. Mackenzie read the look in his eyes and gently pulled his chin so that he was looking at her again. "I'll be okay. You'll see."

Alister gave her a small smile that quickly faded and turned back to face the horizon, the sun having now peaked the tops of the nearby houses, shining cheerfully and contrasting itself to his mood.

"But mom, I can't just leave for a week... I'm still new at my job here and my boss will probably fire me... Then we'll have even less money than we do now. And what if I don't win? That's a very big possibility."

"I'll talk to your manager. He'll understand." Her smile was gone as she watched him until he turned to her again in the uncomfortable silence. She gave him a serious look. "This is a vacation that you need, Alister."

Miruko broke the tense moment by barging in, yawning dramatically. "Well, you got me up, and now I'm up. Thanks a lot."

Alister and his mother laughed and Miruko blinked at them. "What?"

Alister shook his head. "Nothing, bro..." he grinned. "Hey, what would you say to me getting out of your life for a week, huh?"

"You going somewhere, Alister?"

"No, you're going to military school, brat." Alister teased. "Duh. I've been invited to duel in a tournament."

"Duel? Like with swords an stuff?"

"No, with cards. Remember that Duel Monsters card game I showed you in the shops a week ago?"

Miruko nodded. "Oh, yeah. You said I couldn't get any cause they cost too much."

Alister paused. "Ah, yeah... Hey mom, how am I supposed to duel without any—?"

"They gave you a deck along with the rest of the equipment." She smiled at him. "I guess Pegasus is as generous as he is said to be."

Miruko grinned. "All right! A new deck and a bunch of new opponents! And a week for me without you bossing me around!"

Alister ruffled his little brother's hair. "That's right. Instead, mom gets to boss you around for me. And you have to listen to her!"

Miruko's face fell in an amusing fashion. "Oh... I'm going to miss you, Alister..."

"Just because you don't want to have to do all the work?"

"Well, there is that... But seriously, Alister." Miruko grinned. "I do like hanging out with you. But I still think you should go. You could make some new friends!"

Alister smiled at him, then finally nodded. "All right, I'll go..."

(Poinky Dead Divider)

(1) Yes, I'm aware that Sonia and Raphael are French and that she probably wouldn't call him Oniichan... I dun't care. If Malik can call Isis Neesan, (and Lisa can call me Neechan) then Sonia can call Raphael Oniichan. P

(2) I have no idea how this works. I'm making it up as I go. XD Sorry.

(3) XD Inside joke here concerning Valon's job at the pizza place.

(4) The names Alister Amelda Mackenzie and Miruko Michael Mackenzie are © Luckyladybug66 u.u I'm just too lazy to think up my own darn names. (By the way, that's why I'm mixing dub names and Japanese names... It's their middle names. 9.9)


	3. Duelist Kingdom Begins

Raphael leaned out over the railing as the ship started docking. He was looking forward to getting to know some of the other duelists, but he was unsure that he really wanted to duel very much.

Last night, he had heard several whispers going around that some guy who had beat Seto Kaiba was in this tournament. They all seemed shocked at Kaiba's defeat, but Raphael had only shrugged.

"Everybody loses sometimes."

The others shook their heads. "Not Kaiba. This new guy's gunna be hard to beat."

The boat stopped and a whistle blew, jogging Raphael out of his thoughts. He was about to begin heading towards the front of the boat, when he heard someone call his name.

"Hey, Raphael! Wait up!"

He turned and waited as a small group of duelists caught up to him. Since Raphael wasn't an expert duelist, he had been put in one of the large sleeping quarters along with the other duelists last night, instead of getting his own room. At first, Raphael had been annoyed at this, but then realized that it was for the better; he could get to know more people this way, and none of them had to know how rich his family was.

The other duelists who had decided to sleep in the same corner of the room that he had had all gotten to know each other a little during the ride here, and had decided to stick together during the tournament, at least at first. Raphael had been accepted into the group just like any other person.

"Hey guys. What took you so long?" Raphael laughed as they approached.

The one in the lead, a boy named Mike, frowned. "Hey, give us a break, it's supposed to be summer vacation. Not all of us are used to getting up early like you apparently are."

"Mike here just likes to sleep in," a girl named Abby giggled.

The third, and last, member of the group, still had a piece of toast in his mouth from the continental breakfast that had been served a few hours ago. "An' we had to 'ave breakfast," he explained with his mouth stuffed.

"You mean _you _had to have breakfast, Dan." Abby smirked at him. "The rest of us ate it when it was first served!"

Dan shrugged, swallowing his toast. "Whatever." The four of them all exited the boat together.

Everyone was quickly ushered up a long set of stairs and gathered around a high wall of the castle that stood at the top of them. There stood Pegasus himself along with several of his bodyguards.

Raphael gazed up at him as he began to speak, chattering about how fun the tournament was going to be, and how hard everybody needed to work. He then mentioned the prizes that were to be awarded the winner, which Raphael mostly ignored. He was in this for the fun of it, though the mystery prize that would be awarded the champion sounded intriguing. His new companions found the prizes to be much more exciting than he himself did, though he didn't tell them that.

Pegasus himself had a rather annoying voice, and even as he spoke words of encouragement to the duelists gathered, his tone suggested that he didn't expect most of them to go very far. Soon enough, though, Pegasus had left, and the other duelists were scattering, trying to find the so-called high tech arenas Pegasus had mentioned to duel on and good people to duel with.

"Hey, do any of you want to duel?" a small boy with short, brown hair had walked up to their little group.

The others looked around at each other nervously, all nervous to have their first duels. Raphael shrugged. "Sure, I'll duel you. Where at?"

Now the smaller boy shrugged. "I'm not really sure where we're supposed to duel at. I guess we have to look for the arenas Pegasus was talking about..."

Abby pointed at the trees. "A bunch of people just went that way, let's see if they've found one. If they have, we can use it when they're done."

"Sounds good to me." Raphael looked at the smaller boy. "First one to find it gets to go first?"

"Okay!"

(Divider)

Valon was standing at the front-most part of the boat, watching the shore of Duelist Kingdom come closer and closer as the breeze blew his hair around. Hearing someone approach, he turned.

"Hiya, Yugi."

"Hey, Valon. You nervous?"

Valon gave the smaller boy a thumbs-up. "Nah, I'm feeling totally confident," he said with a grin. In reality, he was very nervous; both about the tournament and about the things he was going to have to go through when he got back from the tournament.

But he wasn't going to talk about all that with a boy that he had met just the night before.

Valon had been taking a stroll around the exterior of the ship, having been unable to get to sleep partly because of the butterflies that wouldn't leave his stomach alone and partly because of the amount of noise that the other duelists on the ship had been making.

He had come across Yugi, his friend Joey, and another, green haired boy called Weevil. They had been talking and he had simply watched from a distance, too far away to hear what they were talking about, and not really caring anyway.

Suddenly, Weevil had walked to the railing and thrown a bunch of Duel monster cards overboard, cackling loudly about it. Yugi yelled out in dismay, and Valon quickly realized that the cards had belonged to the shorter boy. They were apparently very worthwhile cards, too, for Joey then dove off the ship and into the water to retrieve them.

Valon had watched in shock for a moment, then ran to grab a life ring. Yugi dove in after his friend, and Valon threw the ring to the two of them. Two other kids came up behind him and helped him pull them up.

Soon, the five of them were gasping on the deck of the ship, and introductions were made. Valon quickly found out that Yugi had been invited to the tournament only because he had managed to beat Seto Kaiba by summoning Exodia the Forbidden One; a monster that now had three limbs residing at the bottom of the ocean.

"I can't wait until the dueling starts," Yugi said brightly, bringing Valon back to the present. "I've got a score to settle with Weevil."

Valon grinned at him. "Eh, a little guy like him won't stand a chance against me. I'll take care of him for ya!" He emphasized his words by slamming a fist into his other palm.

Yugi looked embarrassed. "I'll be content just to knock him out of the tournament. I want to do all this fairly..."

"I was just joking, Yugi," Valon said with a shrug. "I'll beat him up after you duel him, then."

"Valon!"

Valon laughed. "I told you, I'm joking!"

There was a yawn behind them as Joey and the others walked up, looking sleepy. "How can you two stand to be up this early?" Joey complained.

Yugi looked at his watch. "Joey, it's almost noon. Everybody else is already up." He looked up at his friend and smiled. "You get up earlier than this every day for school."

"Yeah, but this is vacation! And besides, at school there's classes to sleep through!" Joey explained. The girl beside him, Anzu, who Valon had also met the night before, rolled her eyes and made like she was going to smack him upside the head. Tristan, the other boy, laughed at her, and Joey, who hadn't seen what Anzu was doing, looked confused.

Yugi shook his head in amusement. "At any rate, it's good that you got up when you did. The ship's about to dock!"

Yugi was correct in this, and the outside of the ship was beginning to fill with exclaiming passengers, all wanting to be the first one off the boat and onto this mysterious island.

The small boy then went oddly silent, staring blankly at the land in front of them and at the shrinking length of water between it and the boat. Joey seemed to catch his mood and placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder.

"We'll get him back, Yuge. Don't you worry. That Pegasus is as good as gone!" he said quietly.

Valon blinked, but decided not to pry. The boat stopped and the whistle blew, so he moved with the rest of the crowd toward the area of the boat where they would disembark, eager to start the dueling despite how nervous he was.

He chuckled to himself over Anzu and Tristan's woodenness as they headed down the gangplank. The two of them technically weren't supposed to be there, as they weren't duelists, but they had snuck on board and had spent last night in Yugi's room with him. Valon shook his head and hurried forward to catch up to them, silently passing Tristan his Dueling glove to borrow.

Tristan gave him a thankful if harried look and slipped it on. Now that he knew that he looked like he actually belonged there, he relaxed, and the group was able to reach the shore and blend into the crowd without incident.

Once they were a distance away from the boat, and being herded toward a long staircase heading upward through the edge of the forest, Tristan handed the glove back with thanks. Valon just nodded and pulled it back onto his own hand. His two starting chips were already in place in the glove, and he was ready to duel.

The moment Pegasus' speech was over, the crowd began to split up. Yugi spotted Weevil a ways off and started towards him, but as soon as the green haired boy noticed them, he ran off into the forest.

Valon clenched his fists. "The stinkin' coward," he growled. Without another word, he took off after him, fully willing to forget the cards and give the kid what he deserved.

He could hear Yugi calling out for him, and also for Tristan and Joey, who, it appeared, had started running right behind him, wanting to help Valon avenge their friend. He slowed a little, knowing that Yugi didn't like fighting at all, and his temper cooled off a little.

Yugi was the victim here, and if he was willing to deal with Weevil using just the cards, he should too. Beating the pants off of the twerp wasn't going to bring Yugi's cards back, and Yugi didn't like fighting anyway.

Yugi, Anzu, Tristan, and Joey were able to catch up to him, and they all ran into the forest together. Fighting through a short ways of branches and bushes, scattering a huge swarm of moths before them, they soon found themselves in a large clearing, where Weevil stood, facing them and obviously waiting for them.

"I knew you'd come after me, so I came prepared," Weevil announced, his high voice grating on Valon's nerves. "You've fallen right into my trap! I'm going to knock you out of the tournament, Yugi!"

"Don't be too sure of that, ya freaky overdressed creep!" Joey shouted at him rudely. None of the others disagreed with either of his statements, and Yugi stepped forward.

"Weevil, You're going to pay for ruining my Exodia cards!" he yelled across the clearing.

Weevil just laughed. Yugi's head bowed forward and his hands clenched. There was a sudden, short burst of light, and then Yugi stood upright again, pointing at Weevil. "I challenge you to a duel!"

"I accept your challenge!"

Immediately, the ground began to shake. A section of ground a short way away from them split open into a huge crevice. But just when Valon and the others were just about to start crying 'Earthquake,' they realized that the hole it was creating was exactly rectangular. They watched in shock as a large metal construct rose up from the ground.

"Those are Kaiba's new Dueling platforms!" Joey said darkly as the field finished setting itself up with low mechanical whirrs.

Yugi nodded and Weevil laughed, practically skipping over to the red side of the platform and hopping on. Sensing his weight on it, the red side of the platform rose up into the air, giving him an aerial view of the field. Yugi followed suit more solemnly.

Their duel began, and it was very soon revealed that Weevil had one upped them, leading them to a field that would power up his insect monsters. Yugi was able to hold him off for a little while, and even took out Weevil's small army of bugs using a Mirror Force trap card, but Valon could tell that the green-haired kid had more up his sleeve.

Even if the green haired kid was a lying cheater, he was still a regional champion, and this duel wasn't going to be easy for Yugi.

(Divider)

Alister stared off into outer space, his thoughts wrapped up in his worries. Around him, everybody was starting to grow restless, wanting off the ship so that they could start dueling, but all he wanted was to be back home.

Sighing, he looked down at the cards in his hand. He wasn't even really sure why he had been invited to this tournament in the first place. He liked watching other people duel, sure, and he had occasionally borrowed cards from his friends to duel, but he was a complete novice at the game. So why had Pegasus extended him a personal invitation to attend a championship tournament?

Slowly, he began thumbing through the cards Pegasus had given him. Disturbingly, the cards all seemed to center on battle machinery, such as tanks and helicopters. His mother seemed to think that his coming to this tournament would be a good thing, but she hadn't seen the deck. It was almost as though Pegasus knew his past history with war situations and was trying to use it against him.

But then, maybe he simply knew that, since those days, the machinery and workings of those things continued to fascinate him. Either way, the deck seemed made to fit him, and that didn't make any sense at all, as he'd never even seen Pegasus before. How could the CEO of Industrial Illusions know him so well? And could it be that he had been invited to the tournament specifically because Pegasus also knew the condition his mother was in?

That was the main reason Alister had agreed to come to this tournament. Not only did he need to win that prize money, he had to figure out how much Pegasus knew about him, and why. And what Pegasus planned on doing with that information.

However, getting to Pegasus to ask him his questions was going to be his biggest problem. He really wasn't that great of a duelist, and although his new deck appeared to have several effective strategies in it, he really wasn't sure if he would be able to use it well.

So the main question was, once he got onto the island and the dueling started, should he immediately start dueling random people, hoping that they were less of a beginner than he was, or should he refuse to duel at first, and watch for people he knew he could beat easily?

If he waited, there was a chance that by the time he started dueling, all the other beginners would be knocked out of the tournament before he could duel any of them. But if he dueled right away, he could end up knocked out of the tournament before he could even do anything...

Finally, he decided that waiting would be the best course. That way, even if an opponent was more skilled than he was, he would be able to observe their deck strategy and plan around it.

The boat stopped and the whistle blew, startling Alister out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized they were so close to shore already.

Quickly, he put his cards into their carrying case and strapped that around his waist. Then he began the trek, along with everyone else, off the boat and up to Pegasus' castle. There, high on a wall, was Pegasus himself.

As Pegasus talked to the crowd about various rules, Alister studied his face, trying to read his expression. But Pegasus' explanations of the dueling gloves and star chips was over too quickly for him to get any real indication of what the Duel Monsters creator was thinking.

Pegasus left, and soon everybody was scrambling around trying to find somebody to duel. Alister tried his best to remain unseen and began searching for the dueling platforms Pegasus had mentioned.

Where there were dueling platforms, there would be duelists, and there he could make his observations...

(Divider)

Daricio: Okay, yes, see, I noticed that I hadn't updated this in a very long time... I actually had this chapter already about halfway written out, and then I'd kind of abandoned it... so when I got a helpful review reminding me that this story existed, I went through it, made some corrections, then added the last part on there...

Sorry the pace of this story is being really slow. That's mostly because, to be honest, I don't really know where this story is leading. I've got enough ideas for maybe another chapter or so, and that's about it. Woo?

Anyway, sorry for the long wait! Next chapter (whenever that ends up happening,) at least two of the bikers will end up meeting up with each other, at least briefly... We'll see what goes on when this happens.

Review!


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